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Ecology

Water fleas on cycles

Nature volume 402, pages 592–593 (1999)Cite this article

Abundances of animals vary over time, and explaining these fluctuations is a central goal of ecology. Especially intriguing are the many cases where populations cycle1. The period of cycles is rarely one year, ruling out obvious tracking of the seasons. This leaves at least two possibilities to explore. Predators may over-exploit their prey, leading to cycles of population explosion and collapse, with prey numbers rising to high levels during the latter phase. Alternatively, partially synchronized reproduction might drive demographic cycles with alternating large and small cohorts of offspring, leading to cycles in adult numbers. On page 653 of this issue2, McCauley et al. tease apart these possibilities for an organism with well-known population cycles — the common water flea Daphnia.

In thinking about population cycles, ecologists often turn to mathematics3. In mathematical models, predator–prey cycles generally have high amplitudes4, which are greatly exaggerated by enriching the prey's habitat5. In contrast, theory predicts that cycles driven by demography and phased reproduction lack the high amplitude and sensitivity to enrichment characteristic of predator–prey cycles.

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Figure 1: Reproduction in Daphnia.

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  1. the Department of Biology, University of Texas, Arlington, 76019, Texas, USA

    James P. Grover

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  1. James P. Grover
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Correspondence to James P. Grover.

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Grover, J. Water fleas on cycles. Nature 402, 592–593 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/45104

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